FWC testing water after recent fish kills

Hundreds of dead fish have turned up on Lee and Collier County beaches over the past two weeks. And experts say the fish kill could have a lasting impact on Southwest Florida's fishing industry.

Two recent fish-kills on area beaches have left sea creatures to rot on Southwest Florida sand. Officials with FWC say it could be a larger algae threat near the coast

Now they're checking it out.

"The reason why we're down here is we're going off shore to look at what the extent is to the west," explained Matt Garrett, with FWC.

Thursday, FWC research biologists sampled the Gulf in five areas, 10-miles off the Lee and Collier coastlines

To get a more accurate reading, they use a container which allows them to get water samples from the floor of the Gulf.

Those samples are then sent to a lab to be analyzed.

"Unfortunately, we don't have the equipment out here to look at the water because everything is microscopic. The best we can do is to capture the water, take it back to the lab and have our taxonomist look at it under the scope," Garrett explained.

But he said the early indicators don't look algae-free

"There's chlorophyll in the water," Garrett said.

An increased reading of chlorophyll means algae. And there was an increased reading at every sample spot we visited.

Still, there's no telling if it's the fish-killing type of algae

Garrett says they will know in a few days whether or not that is the case.